Crashing Into You Read Free Book Online Page B

something to keep our minds off finals.
    “I can’t believe you suckered
me into that,” I said, as we headed toward the theater exit. “That was the
dumbest movie I’ve seen in forever.”
    “At least it had a happy
ending,” Lukas said. “And he was so cute !”
    “Ugh, whatever.” I powered on
my phone. Checked the time. “It’s almost 3. Fun time's over. We should get back.”
    “We will,” he said. “Let’s just
walk around a little first.”
    We headed to the circular
seating area outside the theater. The black clouds hovered over us like giant spaceships,
but no rain was falling yet, thankfully. I had remembered to put on a
sweatshirt, but forgot to bring an umbrella.
    Lukas wrapped his arms around
his waist and said, “It's kind of cold out, don't you think?”
    “It totally is. Although it’s
sad when it’s like sixty degrees, and we’re both shivering.”
    We headed up the escalator to
the second floor of the Promenade, an outdoor mall a couple miles east of
Loyola Marymount. At the top were a nail salon, a sporting goods store, and a
Starbucks.    
    “You thinking what I’m
thinking?” I asked.
    He stepped in front of me. “Always.”
    We entered the Starbucks, and
I strutted up to the counter. “Two hot chocolates, please!”
    Lukas headed to the bathroom
after we paid, and I waited for the drinks. When the barista handed them over,
I debated keeping both for myself. They looked divine, but Lukas’s looked even
better. He’d ordered extra whipped cream.
    Lukas appeared to my left,
more excited about his hot chocolate than if he were splashing his way through
a hot tub with Gerard Butler himself.
    “Perfect timing,” I said.
    “Mmm. Gimme, gimme.”
    We sat down at a table near
the back. I took a sip of the drink but it was too hot, so I let it sit for a
minute.
    “Did you talk to the landlord
about next Saturday yet?” Lukas asked.
    “Yeah, she said we can start
moving in as early as 7:30 that morning. You got permission to stay in the
dorms for Friday, right?”
    “Yeah, of course.”
    “Everyone’s moving out that
afternoon, so we’re gonna have the whole campus to ourselves that night.”
    “How fun is that gonna be?" His voice went up a
couple octaves. "What do you think we should do?”
    “I don’t know. We’ll have to
think of something.” I took a sip. Much better. I stretched out my arms, and
when the main door chimed, my eyes darted to the front counter. “Oh my God.”
    “What?” Lukas followed my
gaze.
    “Hello,” Melanie said as she
walked up to the barista. Her eyes were aimed down at her purse. “Could I get a
venti chai latte, with soy milk?”
    I waited for her to finish
paying before I said anything. She looked dressed for a ski weekend, with her
bulky sweater and long, red scarf.
    “Melanie!” I waved. “Hey!”
    I worried that she would run
the other way, after everything that went down last night, but she stepped
right toward us, and even shot me a tender smile. “Hi Sydney.”
    “How are you?”
    She shrugged, and said, “Not
too bad.” She stopped beside Lukas, tapped her fingers against his chair. “Oh,
hey Lukas. It's been a while.”
    “Sure has,” he said, with little
enthusiasm. He took off his glasses and breathed into the lenses, like he
wanted to do anything but make conversation.
    “What are you doing here?” I
asked Melanie, as she shifted her gaze back to me.
    “Nothing much. Just some last
minute shopping.”
    “Shopping? For what?”
    “For Evan. Our anniversary’s
on Tuesday.”
    I forced a smile. How could I
have forgotten? “Oh, that’s right.” I could tell she was waiting for me to ask what
she got him, but I didn’t give her the luxury. I didn’t want to know. “Look,
Melanie, I'm glad you're here. I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about last
night. I feel really bad.”
    She shook her head, put her
hand out to stop me. “I told you before. It's fine.”
    “It’s not fine. I freaked out
on you,